breakage junie: Meet the USPTO's New Administrative Patent Judges

Teresa Rae, Deputy Director of the USPTO, herself a statutory member of the Board, speaks at the March 1 ceremony.

Earlier this month, on Thursday, March 1, 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office held a ceremony, welcoming 9 new Administrative Patent Judges to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. ?The ?oath of office being administered by Chief Judge Paul Michel (ret.) of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. ?For more on the ceremony see Patent Judges Sworn in at the USPTO.

You may have heard ??the USPTO is hiring. ?Not only is the USPTO actively hiring and searching for Administrative Patent Judges, but they are finding some extremely well qualified candidates to add to the ranks of those already serving. ?With the permission of each of the new APJs, and the cooperation of James Smith, Chief Administrative Patent Judge, it is with pleasure that I share the bios of the newest APJs, each individually pictured with Rebecca Blank, Deputy Secretary of Commerce.

For those interested in applying see this job posting for Administrative Patent Judges.

Without further ado, the APJ class of March 1, 2012??

The new APJs. From left to right: Justin Arbes, Jennifer Bisk, Trevor Jefferson, Johnny Kumar, Bryan Moore, Glenn Perry, Donna Praiss, Stanley Weinberg, Benjamin Wood

Judge Justin Arbes -?Judge Arbes is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in Computer Science from Michigan State University. Judge Arbes began his career developing software applications for Lycos, Inc., the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and IC Tech, Inc. ?Following law school, he served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Avern Cohn of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. ?Judge Arbes subsequently practiced law as an Associate at Arnold & Porter LLP in the firm?s litigation practice group before joining Hunton & Williams LLP in its intellectual property practice group.

Judge?Jennifer Bisk -?Judge Bisk is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law, summa cum laude, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, cum laude, from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from Stanford University. After graduating from college, Judge Bisk interned as a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Randall R. Rader at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as well as for the Honorable Stephen S. Mitchell at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. After law school, Judge Bisk assisted information technology clients with transactional issues at Cooley Godward Kronish and litigated patent cases at Crowell & Moring. Subsequently, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable George W. Miller at the United States Court of Federal Claims and as a law clerk to the Honorable Richard Linn at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and then litigated patent cases at Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox.

Judge?Trevor Jefferson ? Judge Jefferson is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business and was awarded the Wigmore Key. ?He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Electrical Engineering from Howard University and a Master of Science degree, also in Electrical Engineering, from the University of Illinois. ?Judge Jefferson was Editor-in-Chief of the Howard Engineer Magazine, and interned at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, where he conducted failure analysis at an underwater acoustic test equipment depot; he also served an internship at Delco Electronics. ?He later worked as a Systems Engineer for GE Astro Space and Motorola, Inc. ?After law school, Judge Jefferson served as a law clerk to the Honorable R. Guy Cole, Jr. at the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. ?Following his clerkship, he was selected as a Temple Bar Scholar by the American Inns of Court. ?He then worked as an attorney at Latham & Watkins? Silicon Valley office. ?Since 2003, he has worked as a Trial Attorney at the United States Department of Justice, where he represented the United States in intellectual property litigation before the Court of Federal Claims and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Judge Johnny Kumar ? Judge Kumar is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law where he graduated with honors in 1993, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering with highest honors in 1983 from the University of Texas. ?Judge Kumar has practiced patent law as a Partner at major U.S. law firms during the last 21 years. He has practiced in all phases of patent trials in various U.S. District Courts around the country, handled appeals in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Court and has prosecuted patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Judge Kumar has managed patent portfolios in a range of fields including circuits, semiconductors, computer software and hardware and wireless communications. He also worked as an Engineer for 7 years with International Business Machines (IBM) and General Electric. In addition, he has lectured extensively at legal and industry conferences and has written numerous articles for publication in trade journals and legal journals.

Judge Bryan Moore ? Judge Moore is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. ?Upon graduation from law school, Judge Moore practiced law, at the firms of Fish and Neave, as well as Hunton and Williams, LLP, among others, litigating patent cases; he also prosecuted patent applications before the United States Patent and Trademark Office related to electronic communications systems and financial services inventions. Judge Moore then joined the United States International Trade Commission as an Investigative Attorney, where he represented the government of the United States and the public interest in Section 337 investigations involving alleged patent infringement.

Judge Glenn Perry ? Judge Perry is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland. ?Judge Perry began practicing patent law as a Patent Advisor for the United States Navy where he also served as a certified government contracts lawyer. ?Subsequently, Judge Perry served as a partner in private law firms including Cushman, Darby & Cushman, LLP; Pillsbury Winthrop, LLP, serving a three year term on the firm?s managing board, and Smith Gambrell & Russell, LLP, serving two years as managing partner of ?the firm?s Washington, DC office. ?Judge Perry has litigated both patent and non-patent matters in state and federal courts and most recently served as a Director in the Electronics Group at Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC.

Judge Donna Praiss ? Judge Praiss is a graduate of the Boston University School of Law, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware. ?Judge Praiss previously practiced law as a Partner at the law firm of Kenyon & Kenyon, LLP. Later, while a Partner at the firm of Hunton & Williams, Judge Praiss founded its intellectual property practice group in New York. Her practice involved the litigation of patent infringement and invalidity claims on the trial and appellate level. Then, as Of Counsel at Michelman & Robinson, Judge Praiss assisted chemical and life science companies in the evaluation and licensing of their patent portfolios. Judge Praiss has also been extensively published in law and industry journals on the topic of pharmaceuticals.

Judge Stanley Weinberg ? Judge Weinberg is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School, with honors, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University. ?Judge Weinberg served as a Patent Examiner in the electrical arts at the United States Patent and Trademark Office and subsequently prosecuted patents at Westinghouse Electric Corporation. He began his legal career at Neighborhood Legal Services Association litigating civil and criminal cases before joining the U. S. Attorney?s Office in Philadelphia to try cases on behalf of the United States; thereafter he engaged in solo practice. Judge Weinberg then returned to patent prosecution and litigation at law firms, including Sand and Saidel and RatnerPrestia. Subsequently, Judge Weinberg returned to the Patent and Trademark Office as a Patent Examiner in the mechanical and optic arts.

Judge Benjamin Wood ? Judge Wood is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree, with high honors, in Physics from the College of William and Mary. ?After law school, Judge Wood practiced as a government contracts and litigation lawyer at Arnold & Porter and later at Miller & Chevalier, representing clients in complex matters before federal agencies and courts. Subsequently, he became a Senior Investigative Attorney at the United States International Trade Commission representing the public interest in administrative hearings, after which he served as Associate Solicitor at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, representing the Office in appeals of adverse patentability decisions before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.